Weekly Updates

JHSC Newsletter 10/25/2013

Dear JHSC Families,

Thank you to everyone who helped make the Open House such a success. It was wonderful to see so many JHSC students, parents, and trustees help the faculty and staff create such a nice event. It was well-attended, and well-organized. Thank you to Ms. Rossiter, Director of Admissions and Marketing, for the hard work and great job she is doing to advance admissions and marketing at JHSC.

We have already begun hosting prospective students for "shadow days," which is when students visit JHSC for the day. This week, we welcomed two student visitors. When I asked the father how he found out about us, I was so pleased with his response. He said that in the past, he has come to have lunch at the JCC café, where many of our students eat. He was so impressed with how kind our students were; they offered that he skip to the front of the line, and they were courteous to the workers behind the counter. He saw other students happily doing their work at the tables around the café. It was the special atmosphere that our students created which prompted him to inquire further about how he could have his own children become part of this community. I thought that was such a wonderful complement to our students!

Our current parents, students and Trustees are obviously our best ambassadors--please let Ms. Rossiter know if you have any ideas of prospective students who might be interested in attending JHSC.

Thank you all for creating such a gem of a school.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yonatan Yussman, Ed.D.

Head of School

Winter Clothing Drive

JHSC is partnering with the Integrated Immigrant and Refugee Service (IRIS), a New Haven organization dedicated to helping recent immigrants and refugees resettle. The JHSC advisory group that collects the most winter clothing will win a pizza party! You may bring in new or gently used coats, scarves, gloves, hats, snowpants, sweaters, blankets, and any other winter apparel. The clothing collection will end on November 11th. Please bring your clothing to your advisor's room. Thank you to Eva G. for spearheading this worthwhile event.

Annual Giving Campaign

Several weeks ago, you should have received a letter and email about JHSC's Annual Giving Campaign. As you probably know, this campaign is a critical component of our fundraising effort and helps cover the expenses that are not covered by tuition alone. Thank you to those parents who have already contributed to the campaign.

Our goal is 100% giving from our parents. Many foundations will only accept our grant applications if we can say that 100% of our families support our annual campaign. You can make your contribution securely on our website, by mailing in a check, or by dropping off your donation at the school. Please feel free to contact Josh Lipshitz, Director of Development, at jlipshitz@jhsct.org or 203-907-0055 Ext. 228 if you have any questions.

College Counseling Update

Thank you to Dr. Sack, our Director of College Guidance, who led an informative workshop this past Wednesday for Freshmen and Sophomores and their parents. Dr. Sack is available for questions about the college application process--her email is asack@jhsct.org.

PLAN

For those who signed up to take the PLAN, that test will be held in the Community Room on November 4th, starting promptly at 8:45am. The test will end at approximately 12:00pm, after which students will return to classes.

Painting Party

Everyone in the JHSC community is invited to a painting party! On Sunday, November 24, starting at 11am, we will be painting all of the JHSC classrooms. Lunch is included. Please RSVP to tblume@jhsct.org if you can make it to this event which will not only beautify our school, but will be a lot of fun as well.

Bronfman Youth Fellowship

The Bronfman Youth Fellowship is a fully-funded Fellowship that is among the most prestigious programs available to outstanding Jewish students of all backgrounds who are in their junior year of high school. The purpose of the Bronfman Fellowships is to invest in a cohort of bright young Jews who will be leaders of tomorrow in all areas of Jewish and public life. The program includes an all-expense paid five-week trip to Israel and two seminars in New York City where Fellows explore Jewish identity, Jewish ideas, and connect to other young Jews from both Israel and America.

Interested people can learn more and sign up at www.bronfman.org. Application deadline: January 6, 2014. Summer dates: July 1, 2014 August 7, 2014.

Spirit Week

The Student Council is very happy to announce the first spirit week of the year, October 28-November 1:

Monday: Pajama Day

Tuesday: Decade Day (dress up in attire from any decade you want)

Wednesday: Grade Color War (details below)

Thursday: Pink Breast Cancer Awareness

Friday: School Spirit (blue and white)

Color War: The grade representatives are working on some fun activities for Color War, a day where each grade gets to show it has the most spirit. This includes dressing in the grade's color, as follows:

Freshmen: Blue

Sophomores: Green

Juniors: Purple

Seniors: Black

Faculty: Red

In addition to having daily themes and grade color war activities, we're going to be having a movie night on Thursday, October 31st, directly after school. You will be able to catch the late bus if you stay. along with the movie we will have snacks and popcorn and drinks all included in the admission price of only $3, and pizza will be available upon request for an additional price.

Thank you to Tori, Director of Social Programming, and the entire Student Council for planning these events.

Chess Competition

After a well-played final, Alex emerged victorious and re-claimed the title of JHSC Chess Champion. Congratulations to Alex and to his worthy opponent in the final, Jacques, and our thanks go to everyone who took part in this year's tournament for their enthusiasm and sportsmanship. Thank you to Dr. Castle for being the advisor to the Chess Club.

Ambassador Aharoni

JHSC and the JCC of Greater New Haven invite you to a special talk from Abassador Ido Aharoni, Israel Consul-General, New York. The Ambassador's talk is "Israel: Isolation and Innovation" and will be on October 30, 2013, 7:30pm at the JCC.

CAMERA

JHSC and the JCC of Greater New Haven invite you to a presentation from Sarit Catz, Director of the International Letter Writing Group at CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. This is an American non-profit media-monitoring, research and membership organization devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East. Sarit's presentation is entitled "Israel Advocacy and Confronting Media Bias: Effective Use of Traditional and New Media" and will be on Sunday, November 17, 2013, 10am-12pm at the JCC. Includes free brunch.

JHSC encourages students to explore participating in the March of the Living, a transformational program that teaches thousands of Jewish teens about the Holocaust via a trip to Poland and Israel. You can find out more information at motl.org or by contacting our regional March of the Living coordinator, Sima Broza, at Simabroza@gmail.com.

Siman Tov U'Mazal Tov

Mazal tov to Ms. Altura, whose brother is getting married next week in Israel. We wish her safe travels to Israel next week for the wedding.

Kristalnacht Speaker

On November 8th at 10:00am in the Community Room, we will have a guest speaker in memory of the anniversary of Kristalnacht. This awful event, often translated as "Night of the Broken Glass", marks the beginning of state-sponsored Nazi violence against the Jews of Germany. Many consider it to be the beginning of the Holocaust.

Holocaust survivor Judith Kallman will be coming to speak with us on that date. She has recently published a memoir of her experience in the Holocaust. She has been kind enough to give each student a copy of her book, entitled "A Candle in the Heart".

Parents and community members are encouraged to attend. Please RSVP to tblume@jhsct.org.